It costs $49.99 to stream on Spotify per release per year. The estimated payout per play is about $0.007. That means to break even, your tracks need to play about 7143 times. I’ve been on Spotify 5 years, which means I’ve paid about $1000 for the privilege. My total payout for all releases in all time is $8.49.

I’ve never been in this for the money, but this just doesn’t feel good.